A Digital Genesis
by Salil D. Pol
Summary: This is my debut fanfic- a story of an average teenager who rose up to save the world. The story is still ongoing and I intend to come up with a chapter every week. I hope I adhere to that schedule. I don't wanna keep anyone following the story, including myself, waiting.
1. A Boy From Manchester

**A/N: This is my first attempt at writing a story, let alone fanfic so please be a little considerate. I am not very good in writing stuff so please don't mind the writing part. My linguistic skills were never at par with my imagination and I have always been too lazy to develop my vocabulary. You can consider me more of a story-teller than a writer. I hope the current set of the words known to me are enough to do full justice to the story which I am going to present. I wanted to write this at any cost as this story has been stuck in my head for a past few years and has been dying to get out to the people around me.**

**Let me tell you that if you think DIGIMON is some childish crap, then you are living with a big misconception! Read this story and you'll realize that.**

**Generally fanfics are addressed to the fans having a general idea about the theme. But since this is a prequel to the Digimon series, even the people having absolutely no idea about the Digimon universe and related concepts will enjoy it immensely. Just consider it as another science fiction story and read on.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon.**

**MOTIVATIONS**

**I have always been a great fan of Digimon. The Digimon realm forms the basis of this story. Certain concepts in the story may resemble stuff from the DBZ, Full metal Alchemist, Death Note, Berserk, Area D inou Ryouki, Code Geass and Naruto universes. It may include a bit of Computer Science jargon. But it won't be much trouble as I have taken care to provide relevant explanations for every phenomenon taking place in the story.**

* * *

**A boy from Manchester**

Twenty years before the eight Japanese kids set out for their adventure with Digimon and the digital world, this world of ours was still ignorant about the vast parallel universe connected digitally to it. The world went on as normally as it could and for a certain boy from Manchester, Spenser Stratford, none of that was of any importance. His day would begin by the beeping of the alarm clock and would end with a dreamless sleep. What he did in between was just an assurance of the fact that he was alive. He had no friends for whom he really cared about. He was a seventeen year old Secondary schooler with no dreams, no goals and no life; but a mere existence...

This green eyed British teenager lived in a high class mansion in Manchester with his ever busy and filthy rich step-father whom he hated more than anyone else in this world. His step-father provided him with all the money he would ever need but never even spared even a moment to speak to him. This had been the case ever since his mother died when he was eight years old. They spoke only when they quarrelled over petty issues. He was both sad and angry, but he never expressed either of these emotions, maintaining a constant spiritless look on his face.

Spenser, a sixth form student, came home from the boring day at school and turned on the Television as usual. The news channels showed all sorts of anti-social stuff going around. Robberies, Murders and what not! "Ah! This world is rotten..." was all he managed to say.

He was tired of all the loneliness in his life, the frequent brawls with his father and the boredom he faced. It was as if he was living in a loop.

Well, this loop was soon going to find an end. He was destined for something huge, interesting but simultaneously something very dangerous, something that would involve not just this world but the entire universe and beyond!

…..To be continued


	2. The Beginning

**The Beginning...**

This day was nothing special. The alarm clock beeped as usual and Spenser woke up with the same bored look on his face. It was as if even waking up and starting a new day was too exasperating for him. He brushed his teeth and had French toast for breakfast maintaining the exactly same expression throughout. This facial expression didn't metamorphose even when he found out that his father had left a few extra pounds in the drawer for him that day. He just took the money and went about his monotonous daily life. He had his own motorbike, a Honda V-65 Magna, of which the other students were definitely envious. But he didn't care. It was just a mere tool for him to reach his pathetic school and then zoom away from there as soon as the day ended.

While returning home, at the hillside, he saw something unusual in the sky. It looked as if a patch of sky had suddenly gone cherry red. This was quite unusual for a 4PM scene! He decided to have a closer, unblocked look at this extraordinary sight so he drove towards the hill. Those days that road rarely saw any activity as it was on the outskirts and on the hill there was nothing apart from the old ruins of a church. Spenser reached the closed gate of the church, covered completely with dust and ivy. The sky exactly above the church was blood-red, as if the sky was wounded! Spenser was totally mesmerized by this unique sight, craving for a better look at it. He pushed the gate hard but it didn't budge. Then he just gave it up and climbed over it. The church was in a bad shape as there had been a fire, quite long ago which left its scars and also no one bothered to repair or maintain it. The name plate on it, though covered with dust, was still clear in the setting sunlight: THE CHURCH OF THE BEGINNING. The walls of the church were covered by ivy with roots piercing deep within the walls causing major cracks, making the whole thing look like some sort of a weird mural. Irrespective of all of this, the church looked alluring.

Spenser walked towards the church through the large courtyard with his eyes glued to the redness in the sky. He was so distracted looking at it that he stumbled upon something and fell on the ground with a major thud. The fall was such that he hit his head on a nearby rock and became unconscious. In a moment, he found himself floating in an endless expanse of darkness. Before he could think over what was happening, he heard a voice, a very deep voice, like that of a strong and confident man who said "welcome son...and greetings".

Spenser was confused and appalled at the same time but still managed to utter the words "w...who are y...you," with a voice blended with consternation. It is a natural tendency of a human being to fear that which is not comprehensible.

"Calm down. I am someone who needs your help," was the reply.

"What help? And where am I?" rasped the half-numb lips of the kid.

"Leave your questions aside for a while. You noticed the abnormal phenomenon which I created. This means that your spirit is strong which makes you just the person I need."

"You are not making any sense. Just tell me where am I?" said Spenser, scared but exasperated at the same time.

It seemed as if the speaker was losing his patience. The pitch of his voice elevated, "SILENCE! Just...listen. I need a person with a strong spirit, a person who can withstand a lot of pain, suffering and torture and mould himself into someone who can behold the Godlike power and maintain his sanity at the same time to do that what is necessary."

All of this was quite frivolous to this boy. Yet, something about it felt compelling. The kid articulated in an intrigued tone "What power? What do I do with that power?"

"Fill the dark void with light. That's what you'll have to do", muttered the speaker, as if enjoying Spenser's thrill.

"Stop speaking in riddles", commanded Spenser, returning to his agitated state of mind.

"I'll guide you along the way. All you have to do is just accept my offer. You can reject it too. If you reject, you'll forget everything that happened now and find yourself in your bed at home. But if you accept, you are in for an adventure. An adventure which will give your life a totally new meaning", declaimed the speaker, finally trying to make his point but enjoying beating around the bush at the same time.

Spenser thought for a while, 'if I reject, I straightaway wake up in my bed without the memory of what happened here. That means I don't have to take the pains of riding my bike home. So this option is quite tempting. But I would surely like to find out what adventure this person has in store for me.'

Spenser folded his hands, closed his eyes and though hard - as hard as he had never ever pondered over anything before. His thoughts covered a wide spectrum of issues and options. A major choice was to be made between returning to the safe shell of his daily activity loop or risk breaking out of it to live a life of excitement and an intriguing adventure. Spenser did think of choosing the first option. But then his frustration of leading a purposeless life hit him hard.

"Well, I choose to accept! Let's go on that damn adventure!" concluded Spenser.

The speaker gave Spenser to back off to ensure his obdurateness "Think once again. It is not a treasure hunt or some childish game. The road won't be easy for you from here on."

Spenser was well resolved on this one and it did reflect in his voice when he spoke, "I don't care as long as I get to kill my boredom."

The speaker seemed to have acknowledged Spenser's determination yet wasted no time in presenting the final warning. "Alright then. It is your choice. And just remember that if you back off after accepting my terms, you'll pay the price with your life."

Spenser was charged up as hell now. "Do whatever you like. I accept all that you put forth. Just make sure that your adventure entertains me", Said the teenager, clenching his fist.

Sensing the overconfidence in his voice, the speaker advised Spenser in a concerned tone, "Don't get too cocky, kid. And now I'll give you something, something that will help you along the way. You can think of it as a tool for your mission."

Spenser, without wasting any time, asked "what's my mission?"

"You'll know soon", Came the reply.

He didn't care about dying. He was already dead inside. An adventure of such a high calibre could give meaning to his life, he thought.

Before any more thoughts could appear in his cerebrum, a dark figure with a faint aura behind its head appeared, about fifty meters away from him. It looked as if the person was in a dark cloak, with a hood covering his head and a sheathed katana dangling by his waist on the right side of his body, tied to his waistband by a piece of cloth. Suddenly, he unsheathed his sword, flung the sheath away, clasped the Katana by both palms, raised it up and disappeared from that position in a flash, reappearing right in front of Spenser in split of a second, and thrust the sword with full force piercing it right through the boy's heart. Spenser felt excruciating pain and screamed at the top of his voice...

The dark void was suddenly lit up by a blinding flash originating from the point of impact. All he could hear was, "This is just the beginning of your adventure. Feel the pain and relish it, 'cuz this is just a glimpse of what you will be experiencing all along!"

Suddenly he opened his eyes and found himself on the exact place where he had stumbled. He sat up thinking about what had happened and suddenly remembered the stabbing. He touched his chest to check if everything was alright. May be it was all a dream, he thought. But all of it seemed too real. Specially the pain. He would never forget that for the rest of his life. He looked at the sky. It was totally normal. The cherry red patch had disappeared. He thought he must have been unconscious for hours. But his wrist watch begged to differ. It was just 4.30PM, the exact time when he stumbled upon that damned rock. What was happening? The poor teenager was totally confused. He looked around and a few feet away he found a small device which resembled today's cellular phones with just one button on it. He had never seen such bizarre gadget before. He went to it and picked the bibelot up. It looked like some digital gadget. Was it there all along? 'May be I didn't notice it as I was too busy looking at the sky', he thought. The device suddenly beeped and he almost dropped it out of fear. That was something too technologically forward for a boy of the '80s! He looked at it and the screen was shining brightly with something written on it. 'Hello, digi destined boy. Time to give up your life of loneliness and boredom and live it the way no one had ever dreamt of.' Now that too was way too unexpected. He was certain that it wasn't just a dream by then. It really meant something. He wished that he could communicate with the person who had set this up. He thought that if that thing could receive a message, then there must be a way to send one as well. He even tried pressing the only button the device had, but nothing happened. He seemed to have hit a dead-end. He put that thing into his pocket and traced his way back to his motorbike.

He went home and had dinner. His step-dad was not yet home which made him feel a bit more comfortable. His father being around would mean discomfort at the dining table. As soon as he was done with dinner, he went to his room and switched on the television to the news channel to check for news about any unusual phenomenon in the sky. But there was no report about anything even remotely similar to that. Though there were many cases of natural disasters occurring around the world. For instance, there was Tsunami reported in the southern coast of Philippines and the eastern coast of Brazil. Then there was earthquake in the Middle East and a few minor shocks were also reported from Preston, a place fairly close to Manchester. 'That's too unusual! To have an earthquake at that place! Then again so many natural disasters around the world! This planet seems to be going haywire!' he thought. Well, for now, he had more problems to worry about so he preferred not wasting his time and energy thinking over these issues and just go with the flow, continuing with his life because if that person really wanted him so badly then he would surely contact him through that freaky device. But no message flashed on the screen and all he could do was sleep. That was the first night he dreamt of something though he couldn't exactly remember what the dream was about. But he did feel a bit happier than usual. He looked at the device on his table. But it was as dead as before. No message on the dark screen. He went to brush his teeth but when he returned, he saw the screen of the device shining bright. He ran to it and grabbed the device. It read, 'Go to Preston as soon as possible.'

This thing was being too grotesque. Flashing messages on some device ordering him to do things seemed quite otherworldly. May be someone was playing a prank with him? He did consider that as a possibility. But then, the experience at the church was far too much for a simple frank. And that dream or whatever it was, it surely didn't feel like a prank. Whatever it was, it made him happy. He had felt alive after a long time. Or maybe this was the first time he had felt that happy. His purposeless life had too much of boredom for him to handle. It was getting on his nerves. Indeed, living without a purpose cannot be called as 'living' at all. It is a mere existence, survival. Humans need a purpose in their lives, to give it a meaning. Humans are entranced by their purpose regardless of birth, rank, religion or social standing. This purpose supports them. It makes them suffer, it may also kill them but it breathes life into them. This guy had finally found something that could be the purpose for his life. Maybe this is what he was born for.

Spenser decided to follow the 'divine' message. He got ready as usual but this time, instead of riding his bike to school, he hit the road to Preston. Along the way he asked himself a question, 'Going to Preston is fine. But what do I do there?' He had no idea what was going to happen. But he didn't turn back. He knew that even though he had no idea what lied ahead, it would be definitely worth the exploration rather than going back to school and skipping on a chance like this. Thus, he kept driving along the road with a unique determination and a smile on his face. The feeling of that kind of joy was what he had experienced for the first time in his life which, combined with the coolness of the morning breeze hitting his face was what made him feel on the top of the world, made him feel alive! Even he couldn't help noticing that his face displayed an expression which it had never seen before. 'Now off to Preston!' he screamed while zooming over the empty road!

What adventure lies before Spenser in Preston? Would he be able to unearth more details about what this so-called 'mission' he is imposed upon? Will he survive the task? We are soon about to find out.

…..To be continued


End file.
